More than a Wish and Prayer: How Data and Curiosity Can Find Your Church’s Momentum

You’re on a mission to help people know Jesus, experience transformative love, and share that love in the world. And, you know ministry outcomes are measured by much more than attendance numbers or volunteer slots filled. 

But how do you gauge that kind of life change? Is there a way to quantifiably know if you’re making a difference? 

We believe the answer is yes - and it starts with curiosity. 

Begin with Curiosity

Data - especially data gathered well and with a purpose - matters. (See our earlier posts about what data is and the power of using data to fuel your church for more on that thought.) 

But data is just numbers until you get curious enough to find trends and identify momentum. 

Start with what you want to learn. Do people give first or serve first? For those who give first, how long before they start volunteering? Who participated in one service event, but not another?

Look at trends in the data to start answering those questions. You can find who’s attending and when they started giving. Notice discrepancies between events and get curious. What changed? What was the same?  Curiosity provides actionable insights for your stewardship. 

Understand the Behaviors

Seeing the behaviors of your guests and members is the first step to understanding their behaviors and stewarding your resources to best serve them. 

When you see an uptick in baptisms, perhaps that’s an opportunity for additional mentorship or Bible studies. When volunteer slots for a ministry are filled quickly time and again, maybe it’s time for an additional service day. If one small group is particularly popular, what can you do to capture that energy and apply it to other groups? 

A sustainable ministry is one where you are aware of how your guests engage with your church, anticipate and predict their future needs, and then adjust accordingly.

Together, we can leverage data to better understand how your efforts are working. We can also leverage your data to find where momentum is happening in your church so you can direct your resources and effort to where they’ll have the most impact. 

At the 153 Effect, we uncover the meaning behind data so you can see more than just numbers. We use data to give you the confidence for the faithful next step in building your God-given vision. Meaningful data is fuel for your growing church. 

Amber Smart is the founder of the 153 Effect and SmartMetrix. She is passionate about baked goods and still regrets the time she lip-synced the thong song in front of a crowd of 500. When she's not helping make the complex more simple, you can find her playing with her grandbabies.